Thawing a Frozen Heart: Sensory Science for Kids

It's no secret that my kids love Frozen! In fact, their favorite part of the movie is when Anna gets turned into ice and they come to the realization that "an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart". Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought it would be fun to do a sensory and science activity where they can thaw Anna's frozen heart! 

(If you're new to the blog, also check out our Frozen Learning Pack and Frozen Alphabet Cards!)

This activity was so easy to set up, and it was great for introducing my 3 year old to science concepts such as phases of matter (ice/ water), temperature (hot/cold) and buoyancy (float/sink), all while pretending she was rescuing her favorite Frozen character, Anna!

What you'll need:

-ice cube tray

-water

-hearts cut out of red construction paper

1 - First I cut out 16 hearts from construction paper. (however many ice cubes your tray holds) The fastest way to do this is to take one sheet of red construction paper and fold it in half and then in half again and keep folding until you get a square small enough to fit in an ice cube tray. Then you can cut several hearts with one cut. I got all 16 in one shot by doing this.

2 - Fill the ice cube tray with water and add a heart in each space. 

3 - Let freeze overnight.

The first thing I did was let my daughter touch and play with all the frozen hearts. This was a great sensory experience and she really enjoyed it!

Then, we tried several ways to thaw the hearts: 

1- Putting one frozen heart in a glass of water and letting it sit there. (You can even have one glass of warm water and one with cold water and see which one melts faster)

2- Putting one frozen heart on a plate and using a dropper to pour drops of water on it.

3 - We also tried thawing one heart by holding it in our hands and letting body heat melt the ice.

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4 - Another thing that we didn't try but would have been fun is adding salt to the frozen hearts and observing what happens.

The heart that was floating in the glass of water finally thawed and we realized it wasn't floating anymore. It sank to the bottom! Apparently, paper hearts do not float.

More Frozen Ice Activities:
Frozen Fractals Art Activity by A Little Pinch of Perfect
Melting Elsa's Frozen Hands by Happy Hooligans
Frozen Fractals Ice Sculptures by Happy Hooligans
Elsa's Ice Castle Science Play by Preschool Powol Packets
Frozen Water Magic Science by Preschool Powol Packets
Sven & Kristoff Ice Block Races by Mom Endeavors
Frozen Ice Castles from Sand Castle Molds by Kids Activities Blog
Frozen Sensory Tub by Nurture Store
Frozen Sensory Play with Shaving Cream & Ice by Learn Play Imagine
Invitation to Build: Elsa's Ice Palace by Left Brain Craft Brain (not real ice but just as cool)

Rainbow Photo Hunt STEAM Activity

I am pleased to introduce the next guest blogger in our series, Jamie from Hand Made Kids Art. Jamie is an art teacher and a mom who shares creative art ideas and projects for kids of all ages. She is here today sharing a fun way to put the "A" in STEAM.

Learn and master your colors with a rainbow color hunt. This STEAM activity combines science, technology and art for a fun twist on preschool color learning.

STEAM is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Hand Made Kids Art believes the inclusion of the Arts to STEM is essential to our young children’s future success. Teaching children how to think creatively and learning to be problem solvers is how we can prepare our children for the future.

With STEAM activities, the final product of the activity is not as important as the process or creating the product. Through the process of experimenting and exploring your child is using creative and critical thinking skills. Scientists, mathematicians, engineers and artists all use the same critical thinking skills to find new and innovative solutions.

Activity Objective: Child will observe and identify the use of color in their environment. Child will use technology to document their exploration of color with photography.

Materials:
Rainbow Hunt Printable
Clipboard
Pencil
Digital Camera (or Cell Phone Camera)
Printer
Hole Punch
Key Ring

Tutorial:
Step 1: Print off the rainbow hunt printable (or create your own) and place on the clipboard. My three year old requested her favorite color pink be included in the color hunt so I made two versions, one including pink.

Step 2: Go exploring and identify each color either outside in nature or inside the house.

Step 3: Document your “color” finds by taking a photograph of each color. Use the printable to keep track and check off what colors you have found.

Step 4: Once you have completed taking a photo of each color, download and print the photographs. We printed our photographs on 4x6 photo paper. Below is a collage of our final color photographs. All color photographs were taken by my five and three year old.

Step 5: Create your photo book. Punch a hole in the corner of each photograph and slide the photograph on to the key ring. You may print off the rainbow printable to use as the cover for the book or let your child create their own book cover.

Activity Extensions:
Write the color names on the back of the photographs.

Provide additional art experiences by letting your child experiment and explore making marks with color using a variety of materials, such as crayons, markers, and paint.

Related links from Hand Made Kids Art:

Photography Made Easy for Kids

How to Turn STEM into STEAM

How to Use Technology to Enrich Preschool Learning

Jamie is a certified Art Instructor having taught children of all ages. In addition to inspiring young minds and creating for Hand Made Kids Art, she is a busy mother of 3 children. Hand Made Kids Art focuses on quick, easy and inspiring art activities to grow creative kids. It doesn’t matter if you only have 5 minutes or 20 minutes, you can find time to create art with your children with Hand Made Kids Art. Follow along with our art adventures at HandMade Kids Art, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Bread Science Experiment + Free Printable Bread Cutting Pack

My next guest blogger is one you will definitely want to visit: Kristin from SmartE partE! Kristin is a homeschooler who blogs about her tot-school and preschool learning activities, themes, and free printables. She specializes in tot and prek "trays", such as her Hockey Tot Tray + Free Hockey Pack, 12 Science Preschool Trays + printables and 15 Spring Preschool Trays + printables.

Sourdough Bread Science

Long ago, my husband took a job as a bagel baker, which led to a career in bread baking. Sourdough was just a way of life! It took until later to understand the science behind it.

The actual maintenance of a sourdough starter is likely outside the scope of preschool science. If you are interested in learning more today, Cultures for Health has some helpful tips, videos and projects all about sourdough! We wanted to share an easy-prep science experiment that can be done with regular yeast and everyday household liquids. 

For this simple experiment, you will need:

-Yeast (not instant)
-Various liquids (see below)
-Cups or bowls
-This printable

You could try this with any liquids you like! Other than the various water temperatures, be sure to have the liquids at room temperature.

-Ice water
-Warm water
-Hot water
-Soda water
-Almond milk
-Dairy milk
-Apple juice
-Cider vinegar
-Soda w/ sugar
-Soda w/ corn syrup
-Soda (Diet)
-Water & baking soda (let sit 5 min before using)
-Water & aspirin (let sit 5 min before using)

Simply mix about 1 tsp. of yeast into 4-6 oz. (or 1/2 - 3/4 C) of liquid in a cup or bowl. Label or note each mixture. Watch mixtures as they change. Look from above and record the results on the printable! (We used dollar store plastic cups for this. But, another option would be to do these mixtures within Ziploc bags! Please be wary though as the bags could explode due to the activity of the yeast.) We were surprised at what liquids had the strongest reactions. We invite you to investigate this, too!

Download the Yeast + Liquid Bread Science Printable here! 

Bonus: Free Bread Cutting Pack

Though my boys make bread all the time, I decided to have a special Bread Preschool Week in our homeschool. So, I have created a free, printable bread mini-pack that I am honored to share with Totschooling readers! I always appreciate the free printables from Totschooling that makes our homeschool preschool journey oh-so much easier!

This bread mini-pack includes:

-Cutting Strips
-Cutting Shapes
-Slicing Bread
-Symmetry 

Download the Bread Cutting Practice Pack here!

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy learning about bread and how it works in your homeschool!

Meet Kristin:

Hi! I am Kristin and I blog over at smartEpartE.com. When our son, E was 2 I jokingly called him a "smarty party," hence the name of the blog! It served as inspiration to keep up with weekly tot school themes, and perhaps, share some ideas with others! Thank you for visiting over at smartEpartE.com or on Pinterest!

Five Senses Sorting Printable

Use this free printable sorting activity to help children learn about the five senses! Due to popular request, this activity is now also available in black and white.

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This 5 Senses Sorting activity is sure to be a hit with your little ones. It helps to build critical thinking skills while the child figures out which sense is used for each item. 

The sorting mat includes a fun picture of a boy, with blank spaces pointing to his eyes, ears, nose, mouth and hand. Cut out the pictures on the second page and place them in the right spaces according to what sense is used.

I recommend laminating this activity so your child can do it over and over again. The activity can also be done as a cut & paste activity, especially the black and white version.

Click on the links below to download your file:

FREE 5 Senses Sorting Printable (color)

FREE 5 Senses Sorting Printable (black/white)

If you enjoyed this activity you will LOVE our Science Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten!

Four Seasons Sorting Activity Free Printable

The changing weather is a great time to talk to preschoolers about the four seasons. Use this free printable sorting activity to learn about the many things that make each season unique. 

This FREE printable Seasons activity features four trees, one for each season, and 16 image cards. Sort the cards underneath the correct tree depending on which season the image represents.

• Spring: chick, tulip, butterfly, boy in the rain
• Summer: ice cream, watermelon, sand castle, boy in pool
• Fall: leaves, pumpkin, scarecrow, girl raking leaves
• Winter: snowman, snowflake, cup of cocoa, boy in the snow

You can either laminate this activity or have your child cut and paste the images.

Click here to Download your FREE Seasons Sorting Activity

If you enjoyed this activity you will LOVE our Science Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten!

My Body Systems Science Booklet

Introduce children to the human body systems with this free printable book. Makes a great science lesson as well as reading activity for preschool and kindergarten.

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This free printable science booklet includes the sight word "my" and is great for emergent readers. It introduces children to the main body systems while using simple terminology that they can relate to: "My muscles", "My stomach", "My bones", "My brain", "My lungs", "My heart".

If you would like to mention the name of the body system, you can verbally say it after reading each phrase. For example, "My bones... are part of the skeletal system" or "My lungs... are part of the respiratory system", etc.

This activity comes in two versions - a male and a female body. Kids can color in each picture to make it more personal. Read the following directions on how to put the book together:

Directions

• Print the pages (files can be downloaded further down in this post)
• Cut all pages in half down the middle
• Place pages in order according to page numbers
• Staple along the left edge to create a binding

Click the links below to Download the files:

My Body Systems Book - boy

My Body Systems Book - girl

If you enjoyed this activity you will LOVE our Science Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten!

Teach Kids About Healthy Eating with a Food Group Sorting Activity

This post is sponsored by SmartyPants Vitamins, but all opinions are my own. Contains affiliate links for your convenience.

It's not easy getting kids to eat balanced meals sometimes. As hard as I try to provide healthy options for my kids, there seems to always be one or two food groups lacking in their diet. One way that I teach them about nutrition and encourage them to eat healthy is by using this free food group sorting activity to learn about the 5 main food groups: fruit, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy.

It seems that after my two daughters played this food groups sorting game, they got a better understanding of what a balanced meal consists of. They also learned a lot about different foods and how to categorize them. 

I asked my daughters which food group is their favorite and they both said "fruit". This is a great answer, but I had to explain that they need vegetables too, and in larger quantities than fruit. The printable was good for showing a visual diagram of how much they need from each category.

As much as we try to feed our kids healthy foods, you can't force a child to eat something they don't want. This is why I give my kids a daily multivitamin. I've been on the lookout for the perfect vitamins with the best ingredients, no artificial colors or preservatives - plus they have to taste good, right? SmartyPants Kid's Complete gummies was the answer to my search!

SmartyPants Kid's Complete gummies are not only great tasting (they seriously taste like candy) but as a mom I can rest assured that my kids are getting the important nutrients that might be lacking in their daily diets.

I love that these vitamins have no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives and no HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). They're gluten free, allergy free and they contain a nice dose of Omega 3's from sustainable fisheries.

For a limited time get $4.00 OFF your first purchase of SmartyPants Kid's Complete on Amazon!

Don't forget to also download your free Food Groups sorting activity at the bottom of the post. It comes in 2 versions - color and black & white, and includes the 5 main food groups and 20 images of foods for kids to sort in the correct group.

You can laminate this activity to turn it into a reusable game, or it can be a cut/paste/color activity.

Click here to Download your Free Food Groups Sorting Activity

Animal X-rays Matching Activity

This FREE Animal X-rays matching activity is a great way for kids to learn about X-rays, the letter X, veterinarians and pets. It can also be a fun addition to a pretend/dramatic play area.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

This FREE activity features 8 pets that need x-rays, and children have to match the x-rays to the correct pet. After all the x-rays are matched, have your children look closely at each x-ray (this is a great time to get out the magnifying glass) and try to identify any broken bones, as well as any food in each animal's stomach. (The amazingly detailed clipart was created by Teach Smart)

To turn this into a reusable activity that kids can do again and again, I recommend that you laminate the pages and use velcro dots to stick the pieces.

Click Here to Download your FREE Animal X-rays Matching Activity

For more Science activities with Animals, see the following posts:

If you enjoyed this activity you will also like our Science Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten!

Hibernation vs. Migration: Animal Sorting Worksheet

This FREE cut & paste worksheet is great to use when learning about hibernation and migration. Sort the animals based on whether they hibernate or migrate.

Learning about how animals cope with winter weather is a fun preschool or kindergarten theme. This worksheet is designed to make it easy for young kids to remember which animals hibernate and which ones migrate by looking at whether they are sleeping or traveling.

This activity is part of our Science Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten, with 30 hands-on worksheets featuring Life Science, Physical Science and Earth Science topics.

Directions:

• Cut along the dotted lines
• Paste in the correct category
• Color the animals

Click Here to Download your FREE Hibernate vs. Migrate Worksheet

This activity is part of our Science Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten!

Animal Habitats Sorting Mats

Learn about different types of animals and where they live with these fun Animal Habitats Sorting Mats, which include rainforest, ocean, desert, polar, woodland and wetland habitats!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

There are 6 Habitats included in this set, with 4 animals for each habitat.

• Rainforest Habitat: monkey, jaguar, tiger, parrot
• Ocean Habitat: clownfish, jellyfish, seahorse, shark
• Desert Habitat: camel, vulture, armadillo, scorpion
• Woodland Habitat: deer, bear, fox, rabbit
• Polar Habitat: polar bear, walrus, seal, penguin
• Wetland Habitat: duck, beaver, fish, frog

I recommend that you laminate the mats as well as the animal pieces, and use velcro dots to stick the pieces.

You can make the mat self-correcting by placing a colored dot on the back of the mat and on the back of each animal piece. For example, all the rainforest animals might have green dots and all the ocean animal might have blue dots, etc. Make sure you put the dots BEFORE laminating.

These Animal Habitats Sorting Mats are FREE for all Totschooling subscribers!

(If you are already a subscriber, you can find this pack on the Subscriber's Page)

What can I expect as a Subscriber?:

-You will receive access to free printables that are not available for download on the website. This includes holiday and seasonal packs, as well as other themed activity packs, Nursery Rhymes sequencing, Weather Pack, Board Book printables and more!

-You will receive 1-2 emails per week with new posts, freebies, sales and additions to the site.

-Your information will never be shared with anybody else.

How do I get my Animal Habitats Sorting Mats after subscribing?:

-After confirming your email address, you will receive a Welcome Email which provides the link to the subscriber's page. This subscriber's page is where you can download the Animal Habitats as well as ALL other subscriber freebies.

-Please check your email thoroughly for this email including spam folder, promotions folders, etc. If you still do not see it, please email me at totschooling@gmail.com and I will be happy to send you the link.

Human Body Organs Printables

Learn about the different organs inside our bodies with these hands-on Science printables designed for young children.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

These FREE human body printables are great for preschool, kindergarten or 1st grade to learn about our organs, their names and where they are located inside our bodies. 

What's included:

• Cut & Paste matching organs*
• 2-piece puzzles
• 3-piece puzzles

*Instead of cutting/pasting the organs, older kids can practice writing the organ names in each box. 

Please note, this is a simplified version of the human body and does not include all the organs. There are 7 included in this set:

• brain
• heart
• lungs
• stomach
• intestines (large & small together)
• liver
• kidneys

Click Here to Download your FREE Human Body Organs Printables

For more Science printables, see the following posts:

My Body Parts - Printable Puzzles

Toddlers and preschoolers will love these free printable puzzles to learn about body parts!

These free printable puzzles include a boy and a girl version, and feature the following body part pieces:

• eyes
• nose
• mouth
• head
• chest & belly
• leg
• foot
• arm
• hand

This is a great activity for little ones to identify each body part and place the pieces where they go. To extend the activity, you can ask the child to identify other body parts such as knee, elbow, neck, chin, etc.

Click Here to Download your FREE Body Parts Activity

For more activities about the human body, see the following posts: